Letter Re: Craigslist, PSYOPs and Other Ramblings.

I would like to ask your readers who, like myself, have used Craigslist (and maybe similar sites) for years to do everything from buy and sell farm animals to random goods to meeting other people via the personal ads. Have you come to the point where you’re so frustrated with even using CL because of the onslaught of phony, obviously robotic in nature, responses you’ve received either from your own ads or others?

Call me crazy, but perhaps it’s a direct result of our very own government’s attempts to not only track us (CL does often verify accounts via phone/text) BUT to also dissuade us and frustrate us as we attempt to barter, buy, and communicate with others? Talk about a PSYOP exercise. Create programs to post and respond to user ads in such a manner as to ultimately either gather intel or frustrate them from further usage?

On a side note, this veteran of OIF who learned about this website during my deployment in ’08 would like to thank all of you for helping me to prepare (via your contributions to this site) for that which seems to be heading our way with greater and greater swiftness. God Bless You All! Our country will survive, but it’s not going to be fun nor easy. At least I know I’m not alone. – R.B.

HJL Replies: You have to look at the agenda behind the face. It is a safe bet that nothing in this world is truly free. Everything has its cost, and like in the case of Craigsist, that price is often information. If you are not being charged for the services rendered, who is paying the bills? Facebook makes its fortune from selling advertising that you have to view or from getting a cut from companies that trick you into giving your private information away for free. Craigslist lets you advertise for free and doesn’t get a cut of what you sell, but who pays for the servers and bandwidth usage? It’s a safe bet that they don’t do that out of the goodness of their heart. They are getting something for the dollars they spend, and it is often either information that they sell to others or a cut of the profits from those who do get your private information.

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James Wesley Rawles

James Wesley, Rawles (JWR) is Founder and Senior Editor of SurvivalBlog, the original prepping /survival blog for when the Schumer Hits The Fan (SHTF). He began SurvivalBlog in 2005. It now reaches more than 320,000 unique visitors weekly.
JWR is a journalist, technical writer, and novelist. His survivalist novel Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse, is a modern classic that reached #3 on the New York Times bestsellers list. Two of his other novels have also been best New York Times bestsellers.
Jim is the originator of the American Redoubt movement and a frequent talk show guest on shows such as Alex Jones. He is also a retreat consultant specializing in off-grid living, rural relocation, and survival preparedness.

Hugh James Latimer

Hugh James Latimer (HJL) is the Managing Editor of SurvivalBlog, the original blog for prepping and survival for when SHTF, where he manages the blog's day-to-day operations, applying his diverse technical, management, and editorial expertise.
HJL earned college degrees in engineering, metallurgy, and education and has worked as Technical Editor for five international technical journals and as an engineer for Sandia National Laboratories. His deep scientific background ranges from aerospace engineering to systems administration and owning his own technology-intensive business.
HJL is a firefighter/EMT, and Ham radio operator. He's a Libertarian, an Eagle Scout, and most importantly a devoted follower of Jesus and the Bible.

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